Discover Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain at Lake St. Clair National Park

-This post is written by Andrzej Ejmont from Wanderlust Storytellers –

Cradle Mountain-St. Clair National Park is one the most amazing and most visited national parks in Tasmania.  The extraordinary alpine landscape and the majestic rugged peaks will take your breath away and leave a mark in your heart for sure!

This amazing Wilderness World Heritage Area has over 20 different self-guided walks.  You will find yourself in a wonderland of unique Australian vegetation and you will see plenty of Tasmanian wildlife as well.

Cradle mountain walks are on the top of the list of things to do in Tasmania!  On our visit, we stayed at Cradle Mountain Highlander Cottages and we loved it!  Here are our two favourite ones and most recommended ones:

Dove Lake Circuit Walk

Dove Lake Circuit Walk is about 6km long.  It is classified as an easy 2-3 hour walk.  The circuit starts from the Dove Lake car park and you can choose the direction you would like to take first.  We took to the left first and into the beautiful rainforest part of the walk.

Toilets are located at the main car park by the entrance to the Dove Lake Circuit Walk.  Make sure to write your details in the log book, just in case.

During the peak season, this walk attracts a staggering 9,000 visitors per day.  So, if you would like to avoid crowds and car park issues, then off-peak season is the recommended one for you.

The Enchanted Walk

The Enchanted Walk is one of the shortest walks in the area, however a beautiful one none the less.  It is only 1km long and it will take you no longer than 15-20 minutes to complete.  The walk starts at the Cradle Mountain Lodge.  There is plenty of parking at the lodge, so not to worry here.

Have your camera handy on this walk.  The pathway takes you on a journey through the buttongrass plains to tea-tree thickets, eucalypt woodlands to the mossy myrtle forests.  Although it is only a short walk in comparison to the Dove Lake Circuit, we have met with a number of Australian wildlife here as well, including a very cute Wombat.   PS: If you would like, you can click here, to read a bit more about our recommended walks.

Other Cradle Mountain walks:

As our weather was really inconsistent, we only completed the Enchanted and Dove Lake Circuit walks (two of the more popular walks).  Below you can find a list of the other walks in Cradle Mountain, together with approx time frames to help you with your planning!

• Enchanted Walk (from Cradle Mountain Lodge) – Allow approx 20 min
• King Billy Walk (from Cradle Mountain Lodge) – Allow approx 30 min
• Knyvet Falls (opposite Cradle Mountain Lodge) – Allow Approx 45 min
• Dove Canyon Cicuit (via Knyvet Falls) – (opposite Cradle Mountain Lodge) – Allow Approx 2-3 hours
• Pencil Pine Falls and Rainforest Walk – (from Interpretation Centre) – Allow approx 10 min.
• Cradle Valley Boardwalk – (from Interpretation Centre) – Allow approx 2 hours one way to Ronny Creek or 3 hours one way to Dove Lake
• Weindorfers Forest Walk – (from Waldheim Chalet) – Allow approx 20 min
• Ronny Creek to Dove Lake (via Lake Lilla) – (from Ronny Creek Carpark) – Allow approx 1 hour one way
• Ronny Creek to Dove Lake (via Crater Lake, Wombat Pool and Lake Lilla) – (from Ronny Creek Carpark) – Allow approx 1.5-2 hours one way
• Dove Lake Circuit – (from Dove Lake Carpark) – Allow approx 2-3 hours
• Marions Lookout (via Crater Lake) – (From Ronny Carpark or Dover Lake Carpark) – Allow approx 3 hours

“The walks at St. Clair National Park will remain in my memory as one of the best things that we did on our travels around Tasmania!  All I can say, it is a magical place!  “Lord of the Rings” kind of place, with mossy forests and rugged landscape.  I Loved it! “  –  Andrzej

Andrzej and Jolene Ejmont and their three daughters are a family of wanderlusters. Wanderlust Storytellers’ mission is to inspire and entice families to travel and experience the world. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
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